Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015

Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015

This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the nutritional information that restaurants and retail food establishments must disclose. The nutrient content disclosure statement on the menu or menu board must include: (1) the number of calories contained in the whole menu item; (2) the number of servings and number of calories per serving; or (3) the number of calories per common unit of the item, such as for a multi-serving item that is typically divided before presentation to the consumer. Nutritional information may be provided solely by a remote-access menu (e.g., an Internet menu) for food establishments where the majority of orders are placed by customers who are off-premises.

Establishments with self-serve food may comply with the requirements for restaurants or place signs with nutritional information adjacent to each food item.

An establishment’s nutrient content disclosures have a “reasonable basis” if they are within acceptable allowances for variation, including variations in serving size or ingredients and inadvertent human error in formulation.

Establishments with standard menu items that come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations, that are listed as a single menu item can determine and disclose nutritional information using specified methods or methods allowed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Regulations pursuant to this Act or the clause amended by this Act cannot take effect earlier than two years after final regulations are promulgated pursuant to this Act.

The FDA may not exempt states from nutrition labeling requirements.